A God Among Insects
by Terra Banks
Summary: There were less than a handful of living people on the planet who could say they knew Castle before he became famous. Only one of them could say she knew him better than the rest.


**Disclaimer**: I don't own the movie Gamer or the song.

**Author's note**: I just like giving villains female companions. It's a fun experiment. :D

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**A God Among Insects**

**~.~**

"You're late," He said, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"I know," The visitor replied, as the door locked into place behind them. "I blame security."

"No excuse for tardiness," He scolded lightheartedly. It wasn't like they talked much while the program was running anyway, unless he was pointing out some new feature. Gesturing to the table in front of the sofa he was seated upon, he invited, "Help yourself."

His guest poured themselves some coke and sat down beside him, grabbing a few potato crisps. "I'm surprised you still like to do this."

"Do what?" He asked vaguely, the session was seconds away from ending.

"Watch," the other replied. "Doesn't it get boring?"

"Darling if I didn't find my creation interesting, well I wouldn't be sponsoring it anymore now would I?" Castle drawled out, leaning into the couch and resting his arms on top of it. He looked away from the super-sized computer monitor as the screen flashed 'Game Over', to find his companion looking right back at him. "Does it bore you?"

"Don't get me wrong the technology is brilliant and everything but its just guns, explosions and blood. It gets repetitive." The woman expressed in a non-confrontational manner.

"Then you deserve a round of applause for sitting through it with me countless times. You ought to go into acting; I had no clue you hated what I do for a living," He confessed dramatically with a grin on his face, turning his body to face her. As she scrutinized that response, she noticed his shirt was unbuttoned.

"I don't hate it; I'm just not a huge fan of it." She clarified.

"Why didn't you ever say anything?" He asked still merry, genuinely curious. It was a little creepy how he was almost always happy these days- you could never tell if he was acting.

"When you have nothing nice to say..." She quoted.

"Wow I can't believe I never noticed that!" Castle exclaimed. "I must be getting sloppy."

"Maybe it's the nanites taking up all your brain space." She joked, tapping her own head. Maybe it was those infernal things that made him turn into what he was now but she couldn't fool herself. Castle had never cared about the worth of human life or the limits of scientific experimentation. The only thing different about him now was his new-found bad boy attitude, the things he joked about and a laid-back ease that came after success. Back when he had something to prove to the world, he was always busy working hard and diligently. He was a dedicated inventor and passionate about nanotechnology. His passion was one of the things that she had liked about him back when they first met. His sense of humor and vivacity probably had something to do with it too.

"Hey, keep that on the down-low!" He warned; a twinge of good humor attached to the serious statement. "What else don't you like about it?"

She raised an eyebrow. Did he really think she was stupid enough to answer that? She hoped he wasn't asking so he could convince her otherwise. His charm was nowhere near as effective on her as it was on the rest of the female population.

"It would really help understand your demographic." He appealed. Well, it couldn't hurt. He never really got mad at her for giving her frank opinion on something and she wasn't afraid of him anyway. The reason she never talked about this before was because she didn't think it'd help him improve his system and didn't want to pointlessly criticize it.

"I guess the fact that there's no real purpose of the whole thing. No one ever gets out." She shrugged.

"Kable is well on his way." He pointed out.

"Castle," She began quietly, leaning in and maintaining eye contact. "We both know he's never going to win that last game. You can fool the rest of the world but not me."

He almost forgot she knew about the truth about Tillman. He remembered explaining it to her when he had showed her his adopted daughter. She had gotten along well with Delia- he had recalled her saying she was good with kids ages before that.

"You've never approved of that either have you?" Castle accused, starting to get suspicious. She really couldn't help but answer that one wholeheartedly.

"Tillman never did anything to hurt you. You used him as a test subject, made him kill his best friend and then you didn't even have the decency to just kill him and say it was a double shoot out or something!" She pointed out with hand gestures, seeming incredulous that she was explaining this in the first place. "You put him in Slayers so he could rack up your revenue and amuse you at the same time. You took in his daughter, which might've been a mercy, but it still screams out that you have a personal grudge against the guy. I'm surprised you didn't marry his wife!"

There. It was out in the open.

"Believe me sweetheart the only woman I'll ever think about marrying someday is you." He winked flirtatiously before becoming serious again. "If you don't like me, you can walk out that door and never look back."

She hesitated. "I don't think it was smart of you to leave a loose end alive this long and I don't like how you've treated him."

"Then why are you still here?" He asked impatiently, the look in his eye that of a wounded lion.

She took a deep breath. "You might be a crazy psychopath but you're _my_ crazy psychopath. Now I don't know when you're going to jump off the deep end and go completely insane but until then, I'll be here."

Her words calmed him down again. Castle was reminded of why he enjoyed her company; she was an honest, loyal person who wasn't scared of him. Well she had no reason to be- he had no intention of hurting her and more to the point, he didn't have actual control over her since she'd never injected with or exposed to nanites. It felt nice to know that there was at least one person he could trust, even if she didn't share in his beliefs. He'd never told her about his bigger plans though he suspected she wouldn't be surprised when he did tell her. The woman had amazing intuition, it was almost like she was precognitive!

He leaned in to kiss her but she pushed him away laughing. "That doesn't mean you're going to get laid, evil genius."

He grinned, buttoning up his shirt. "We'll see about that. I have an interview with Gina Parker Smith in an hour. Maybe she'll be interested in a private after-party."

She smiled back, with a look that told him she wasn't buying it. "Gina is a perceptive woman. I think her instinct will tell her to turn you down."

"I can be very charming." He argued, getting up and brushing himself off. "See you tomorrow?"

"Day after," She amended. "I'm busy tomorrow."

Castle kissed the back of her hand in goodbye and walked out of the room.

Sometimes she wondered why she stayed with him. It definitely wasn't for the money or luxury. Castle did give her the most outrageously extravagant gifts for her birthday- the house she was living in now, a new car, etc., and when he went travelling on his private jet he usually invited her along. It was nice and everything but she could live without it. She inherited enough to be stable for the rest of her life on a middle class level, even if she didn't work a single day. She was grateful for the trust fund security since it had allowed her to take up a career she liked.

Did her commitment to an old friend blind her from the evils she was permitting? No she saw it all. Then why did she pretend like she didn't know where he'd end up taking this? He was after world conquest, she just knew it. Nothing less would be enough for him. It wasn't a question of greed, it was a test of ability. On succeeding, he'd probably have most of the human population literally under his control and the rest subdued- closer to being a God than any man had before. If this was someone else she'd be out there fighting them- exposing them -right this instant.

Maybe it was how she could not let herself falter when it came to her principles- you didn't betray a friend when they've done nothing but be good to you. Maybe it was pity- if she wasn't there for him, who would be?

The more important question, however, was how much longer he was going to be there. She had a dream last night about Kable.

Change was coming; she could feel it in the air. You could never keep a secret buried forever. It was only a matter of time before the mayhem descended. She'd be ready and waiting, but she'd already decided that this wasn't going to be her battle. Only one of them would come out on top, Kable or Castle. It was winner takes all and the stakes were higher than anyone else knew. She'd let fate play out and watch from the sidelines. If Castle lost, she would mourn her friend (and applaud Kable for doing the near-impossible). If he won, she would stay by his side for as long as she could bear to.

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><p><strong>So ironic how I wrote this. I didn't think I was going to write OCs ever again but here I am... doing just that. In my defense, I didn't even give her a name.<strong>

**I don't know how popular the Gamer fandom is (this will probably be fic no. 30) but if any one does read this, please review!**

_~Terra Banks_


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